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Friday, December 30, 2011

Yesterday we left Rhode Island en route to our New Years weekend destination: Charleston, SC!Traffic was absolutely horrible and turned a 14 hour ride into a 19 hour ride. We got in about 1 am-so late! But the highlight of our trek South was taking a short break and walking around DC.

We found an amazing parking spot right near the monuments and could see the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial across the water.

Zoe also enjoyed seeing the monuments and getting to walk around. She’s quite the traveling pup!

We walked over to the Lincoln Memorial for a photo op.

It was so fun to see the Lincoln Memorial with Zach since he had never been. I also love the view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

Incredible view!Our last stop was the Korean War memorial.

I think this is one of the coolest memorials. I love the statues as well as the faces etched into the stone.

After our quick stop in DC we were back on the road to Charleston. The rest of the drive was awful and full of stop and go traffic. The only good thing about the rest of the ride was the Chick Fil-A we ate for supper. We finally arrived in Charleston and had a wonderfully relaxing, low-key day here today!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

After a Monday spent relaxing and having dinner with friends, we decided we wanted to return to Boston and see what we hadn’t had time to see last week. So bright and early Tuesday morning, Zach, Amanda and I headed back to Beantown.

Our first stop was Fenway Park!

We didn’t wind up going on the tour because we would have had to wait an hour. So instead we just walked around the area and took some pictures.

We soon got hungry for lunch and hopped on the T to head to Harvars Square. We had lunch at a fantastic place called Border Cafe. They served Cajun and Tex-Mex. The tortilla chips were amazing and the burger I got was great. We walked off lunch by checking out Harvard’s campus.

The campus was so beautiful and had such pretty buildings around campus. It looks so incredibly different from MSU!

Our last stop in Boston Round 2 was back to Quincy Market to visit a few shops we missed last time. I got a really pretty ornament that I’m so excited about! Then it was back to the car to head to Providence to meet my friend Dagny for dinner. Another great day in New England!

Christmas weekend was so wonderful. I got to spend it with all the people I love. Christmas Eve morning began with a 5.4 mile run, then Zach and I spent the afternoon with Amanda and her parents at their house. Zoe went along to play with their dogs and had an absolute blast running around the yard with them and eating homemade doggie treats!After Amanda’s house we got ready to head to 5:00 mass.

Our Christmas outfits

Zoe wanted to say Merry Christmas too!After church we enjoyed a fantastic meal that my parents prepared and exchanged a few gifts before settling down to watch Love Actually. Then it was off to bed before Santa came!

Christmas morning we awoke to many fantastic gifts from Santa and had a great time watching each other open presents!

My mom loves Barbie (they were born the same year) and she somehow found a “She Said Yes” Barbie as a funny gift. I loved it!

Zoe also got spoiled between my parents, sister, and us. I helped her open her gifts.

Zoe had asked for her own jar of peanut butter so she could double dip. She licked right from the jar when we gave it to her!Zoe wore her Charlie Brown Christmas bandana on Christmas morning and was just so cute and well behaved during the day.After presents we pretty much ate all day and relaxed. Amanda came over in the afternoon and we watched Hangover 2.It was a fantastic Christmas!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Friday we spent the day in Newport! We loved the drive over the bridges into Newport. The views were awesome! We started the day with lunch at The Red Parrot.

I had the most fantastic salad and a cup of clam chowder! Then it was off to the mansions!We decided to visit The Breakers mansion. I had been to the Marble House before and loved it, but we both wanted to see something new for both of us.

Inside the mansion, the Christmas decorations were incredible. There were hundreds of poinsettias, garland, Christmas trees, and beautiful ornaments.

The house itself was also amazing. The details in the walls, ceilings, and furniture was incredible. The house was just so ornate. I loved hearing the stories about the Rockefeller family and their summers spent at the mansion.

After the tour, Zach and I headed outside and walked around the grounds as well as the Cliffwalk, which backed right up to the mansion grounds.

The views were so incredible!

It was such an enjoyable afternoon!

We finished the day with a basketball game. We went to the URI-PC basketball game at the Ryan Center.

Like this:

Friday, December 23, 2011

Thank y’all so much for the congratulations! I smiled reading all of them! We obviously haven’t planned a single thing but we know we will be looking to plan a spring 2013 wedding hopefully in February or March! I can’t wait to share the planning with y’all (and probably ask for advice/opinions haha) but for now we are just enjoying the holidays. When we get home let the planning begin!Wednesday we slept in and then took a ride to Narragansett Beach. The weather was rainy but we wanted to give Zoe a chance to run around.

Zoe LOVES the beach!She also pooped on the beach. We were taking pictures and turned around and there she was. We were mortified!

We also walked around the URI campus and then dropped Zoe off before heading to the Providence Place Mall to meet my mom for dinner at PF Changs! We walked around to a few stores then left and came back to relax.

Yesterday we went to Boston! Zach had never been and he was really looking forward to it! We met up with our friend Emily who is also a grad student at MSU and her brother.

Boston Common

Quincy Market! (with Emily and her brother)We did some of the Freedom Trail from Boston Common to Quincy Market, looked in a few shops, then went to eat lunch at the Union Oyster House.

The food was delicious! Zach and I each had chowder and then we split an entree. The place was pricey, but REALLY good. I also liked how it seemed authentic and that they hadn’t changed much of the original structure.

After lunch we were headed to Sam Adams Brewery for a tour!

Our tour guide was incredibly funny and Zach really enjoyed the tasting. They gave us Boston Lager, Winter Ale, and an IPA to sample. I only had tiny tastes but I liked the Winter Ale best!After Sam Adams, we went to Newbury Street to see some shops and decorations!

We walked around a bit and then headed back to RI. We are actually thinking of going back next week to see some more things we didn’t have time to see this time!Today we are going to Newport to see the mansions and also to the URI-PC basketball game! I’ll have some picture for y’all tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Yesterday I went to New York City with Zach, my sister Chelsea, Amanda, and my parents! I had never been so I was so excited!

We took the train from New Haven to Grand Central Station, which was decorated beautifully. Our first stop after arriving in NYC was the Empire State Building!

The view from the top was incredible!

I’ve missed Amanda like crazy!!

After the Empire State Building, we headed to a Mississippi State-themed restaurant for lunch called The Junction.

An MSU bar in NYC?! How cool!

The food was awesome and the Christmas decorations were so gorgeous! I just loved the place! Our next stop was the m&m store (y’all know how I feel about m&ms!)…or so I thought.We walked out of the restaurant and Zach asked me if I was excited. For m&ms?? Yes I’m excited! But that’s not what he meant!

I was SO SURPRISED!! And I LOVE my ring!!!

My sister had smuggled a bottle of champagne in her purse (everyone knew except me!) so we all toasted in the street in NYC!

With happy hearts, we next headed to Times Square (yay m&ms store!). Times Square was incredible!

We walked around and went to several stores but were mostly so happy and overwhelmed that we found a spot to sit and enjoy while the rest of the group shopped longer.

After Times Square, we all walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree!

After Rockefeller Center, we shopped around a bit then got on the train and headed back to New Haven, then drove back to the house and made phone calls to Zach’s parents and grandmother and sister before crashing. What an AMAZING day!!